Lux ex Tenebris
by ncfan
Summary: In which Orihime cherishes all that which she fears to lose. Slight IshiHime.


**Characters: **Orihime, Ishida, with mentions of Rukia, Ichigo and Chad.**  
Pairings**: slight IshiHime.**  
Warning/Spoilers**: Set during Fake Karakura Town Arc; Ishida and Orihime are still on top of the dome on Hueco Mundo.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Bleach.

* * *

"How do you feel?" Orihime asked anxiously, biting her lip and shaking slightly. The chilly night air didn't help matters at all.

Ishida grimaced as he laid down on his back on the stone. "I've been better," he admitted, putting a hand over the clean, narrow slit in his abdomen—the vestiges of being impaled by Zangetsu—as Orihime erected the shield around him. "But then again, I was much worse—don't worry about it—" he added quickly seeing Orihime's face pale "—earlier today, so I don't see how I can complain."

Orihime nodded slightly. "I reject thee," she murmured, beginning the healing process. "This is going to take a while," she explained apologetically. "I'm going to concentrate on the stab wound first, but it will take time to grow back your hand."

He nodded. "I understand."

Orihime found it amazing that the stab wound bled less than having his hand severed did. She could only assume that the injections Ishida had mentioned were taking affect and prevented him from bleeding out with the removal of the zanpakuto and several veins and arteries being severed with the loss of his hand.

The wind howled over the sandy plains as Orihime worked. She deliberately tried to keep her mind blank, but still-present worries braced at the doors of her mind, howling like wolves from a far-off distance.

Ishida seemed to notice, and frowned, peering intently at her. "You are alright, aren't you, Inoue-san?" he asked quietly, looking at her as though he was trying to see the inside of her mind.

Orihime's face colored and she looked away. "Yes, of course I am."

The hole in Ishida's stomach closed up after a few minutes. Then, Orihime focused on reversing the damage done to Ishida's left arm. First thing first: grow back the bones. With a painstaking slowness, a stub of bone began to extend from the stump of Ishida's wrist.

"Nothing was…done to you?" Ishida's voice was a mixture of concern, suspicion and a strange protectiveness that Orihime couldn't quite remember ever hearing there before.

Wait, no, she could remember it, clearly now. That note had been there for the entire amount of time she and Ishida had been together in Hueco Mundo. Orihime wondered if it had always been there, or if she had simply never noticed before now.

As she brushed a bit of hair out of her eyes, Orihime smiled too-brightly. "Of course not, Ishida-kun."

Orihime would never speak of those two little girls who had been so vicious beyond their seeming years, nor of the threats of force-feeding nor of every moment of terror she had experienced. She just wanted to be over it, and more than anything, she did not want to speak of it.

It would have been better if Orihime could have just found a way to eradicate the memories from her mind.

Ishida peered at her uncertainly, a slight sad hint appearing before being pushed back down. "Okay," he murmured slowly, troubled as he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. It was clear he thought she was lying, but wasn't in the mood to push to hear the truth.

The process to grow Ishida's hand back was taking longer than Orihime had thought. The bones were all the way grown back, but the muscle and sinew, along with the veins and arteries, were growing back with difficulty.

Orihime's breathing quickened as her heart pounded and her throat tried to swell shut, but she forced it open as she whispered, "Ishida-kun? If it's possible, could you tell me something?"

"Anything."

She formed a shaking smile that quivered and trembled. "Could you tell me how Kuchiki-san died?"*

Ishida started, clearly not having expected that question. "Inoue-san, didn't anyone tell you? Kuchiki-san is still alive."

"She is?" Orihime half-shrieked, face going stark white. _Oh, thank God, thank God, thank God… She didn't die trying to help me._

"Yes, she is. I felt her reiatsu drop sharply then start to recover about an hour later."

Skin started to come up over the mass of tissue, muscle and bone of Ishida's hand, the last and fastest-moving thing to appear.

_And Kurosaki-kun's alright now too._

"What about Sado-kun?" Orihime demanded, eyes stinging. "Is he alright too?"

Ishida looked less certain of that. "I'm not sure. I'd have felt it if his reiatsu had dissipated, though."

Orihime's smile was gritted and showed teeth as hot, dribbling tears slipped down her cheeks. The shield dissolved; she was done healing him. "I'm…so glad," Orihime choked out, relieved that none of her friends had had to die to rescue her, that it was finally over, and that maybe, just maybe, she would be going home soon.

Ishida put his hand, the hand Orihime had just grown back, on her shoulder, and she looked up and smiled.

Ishida had a small, exhausted smile on his face, accentuating the circles under his eyes and his pallid face under the dust, grime and small flecks of blood. "You know everything's going to be alright, don't you, Inoue-san?"

And maybe because the intangible mask Orihime had always worn had finally been broken by the hard malice of Hueco Mundo, or maybe just because she was so relieved to see Ishida smile again when he had shown every sign of going back to being the somber, almost dour boy she had used to know, Orihime continued to smile, even as tears kept pouring down her face, a release like she had never felt in her entire life.

* * *

*I'm not sure if anyone ever told Orihime that Rukia wasn't dead (and I'm not in the mood to go comb the manga), but for the sake of the oneshot, let's say it happened now. I can't help but think that that would take a huge weight off of Orihime's shoulders.


End file.
